Melting Ice
by Rakata Imari
Summary: "This will be our final battle together...." "...and it will be our last." Gatekeepers 21- episode 5


Melting Ice

By: Illia Sadri

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Disclaimer: Gonzo owns Gatekeepers 21... Not me. However I wish I owned Yukino so I could hug her and squeeze her and take her home. 

Author Notes: This takes place directly after the 5th episode of 21, and before the 6th episode. It is highly recommended to watch up to that point unless you want something spoiled. Yukino is such an enigmatic character and thus has such potential to bring things out. 

A small girl, dressed in a white variation of the school uniform appeared like a ghost from on top of the sports car, and she merely stood silently. The man ahead of her stared into the sunset but knew that he was not alone.

"You came Yukino Houjo." he said, standing stoically against the car. 

"Because I promised." came the reply in a soft voice.

A solemn voice stated the obvious. "This will be the second time that we fight together…"

"And it will be our last." she finished, fully accepting the truth. She had known why they were meeting.

They were quiet for a moment before Reiji broke the silence. "Yes… It seems it will be so."

Silence followed as both figures took in the colors of the sky, and the gentle breeze. They both knew that it was going to be the final battle. Both knew that their time was also running out to enjoy simple things like a sunset. So they stood in silence.

***

For the past thirty years Yukino had resided at the school, wandering like a ghost, or she at least looked like one as her small white figure stood out in the now dark sky. However the time did not seem like anything as she had wandered to see times come and go. Her large eyes spotted her longtime pet sitting before her, looking at her with curious eyes. 

She raised her girl like hand and called to it. "Hisame, come." Yukino called out to her small white companion. Sure enough within a moment the weasel had scrambled from the concrete floor and climbed up his mistress's outfit and sat at his usual place on her shoulder.

The small creature could feel the dismay of the eternally young child. He started playing with her ear slightly, trying to cheer her up. 

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"How long I wait,

For eternity to come.

Don't cry for me,

When my hair is painted white,

And my hands are withered petals.

For I worry not,

About when the sunset comes."

Her soft words drifted in the mild wind, she could tell it would rain tonight. The air was heavy and 

The small weasel looked at his owner with sad eyes. "P-chuuuuu" is cried out, seeming to acknowledge that something was amiss and changing. It didn't matter that Hisame was an animal as he also has lived by her side for long enough it could sense the slight change in her demeanor.

Yukino softly pet him on the head affectionately, giving a rare smile to Hisame. However, her soul was not as at ease as she would have liked.

She had seen her own time devoured by the gate, until there was nothing left of her home, he family, her single love. Centuries had passed like that, and she remained as but a small girl. For many generations she had wished for this day, when her eternal unrest would end. Now that it faced her she found a new emotion.

Fear. 

Loneliness had dominated her existence, and in time she had been able to build a wall of impermeable ice to contain herself and to wait. It was melting now and for the first time since she first came to her near immortality. It had started with the events some thirty years ago, since she took residence in the school. Now it was thin.

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"To feel nothingness.

And be lifted of my curse,

And feel my mortality.

This shall be the last,

And no longer will I be alone."

Yukino could feel the ghost girl's presence. Another gatekeeper was now prepared to rip apart this world with the invaders. It had happened so many times before, even the one she had promised to fight with again….. The last time they had fought it was him who she had to battle, in order to protect them all. Now one more generation was to be saved before her eternal rest.

One more generation…

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"Should I be reborn,

As a flower renews in the spring,

Let the ice of my heart melt,

Lest face another eternity,

Waiting for the next."

"P-chuuuuuu" Hisame cried at the sad words. 

Yukino stroked the ferret again, knowing its intelligent and foresight. "It shall be fine, Hisame. Worry not about the future." Her eyes continued to stare at the ever rising buildings of the city, remembering the changes over the years. 

This time would be unlike any other. The last one she would remember.

She looked at Hisame, who had fallen asleep on her shoulder and laid comfortably still there. A few drops of water fell, the drops saturating the concrete surface of the roof, making dark impressions. A drop then fell on Yukino's nose.

It was then that she decided to vanish once more, perfectly timed with a spectacular bolt of lightning which illuminated her face as she faded into the air she had appeared from. The clouds continued to weep that night and the wind howled, numbing out the beginnings of destruction occurring.


End file.
